I loved this chapter! And working with Georgia Virtual School, I have a lot of experience in several of these categories. So as not to bore you with tons of information, I'm going to focus on two areas!
First, there was discussion of Meeting the Standards of eLearning (p. 208) They discussed Curriculum, Instructional Design, Teacher Quality, Student Roles, Assessment, Management and Support Systems, and Technological Infrastructure. As I read each of the descriptions, I was very proud of my school. I feel like we've really thought through each of these issues and are working to incorporate an online classroom while meeting each of these needs. I did think that our Support Systems might be a weakness. We have a "support team" who serve as guidance counselors in a way. However, they are not able to give students guidance on what courses to take. Because some schools have different requirements even thought they are a GA Public school, we have decided that the individual school should do this. I think we could really help students by giving them information regarding course choices. They could take that advice back to their school to make a final decision, but I'd like to give them information.
The second part in this chapter that I really liked were the three different options. The first they discussed was the teleconferences. The best part of that is the synchronous interaction. The scenario presented at the first of the chapter introduced a teacher with a need for a group of gifted students. This interaction would allow the students to feel a part of a real class as they participated. The second choice was online courses. It was described as asynchronous. And there are some such classes. I tutored a student who was taking a BYU Independent study course for high school credit. It was just a series of lessons he completed on his own without interactions with other students or teachers. I don't think this is the best environment - especially for high school students. Our online courses are not like this. We do include a synchronous element where students and teachers interact. So I think that is a real plus for our courses. The final option was blended. I love this option. So much of what a student needs is that personal interaction, but the addition of the technology makes for a much richer learning environment. We are currently piloting our blended program. So time will tell how effective it is!
I really enjoyed reading the second part of the chapter too. I had one online course with Dr. Orey that listed the synchronous and asynchronous portions of the class, much like this course does. I liked the blended option as well, it gives students the time to do work on their own (asynchronous) as well as time to collaborate and share ideas (synchronous) with others. When it comes to education, communication is KEY!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't wait to see what you and Twila would write on this topic! I find your work intriguing. As an elementary teacher, I can see the possibilities of having a blended environment. I don't think most elementary students are focused enough to have asynchronous instruction as their primary form of instruction. I do see blended instruction working. Gwinnett Online Campus currently has brief tutorials on completing algorithms. These provide wonderful support for the teacher, student, and parent. Parents like them because it gives them a method to quickly review material they are helping their child master. As I wrote on Twila's blog...the challenge in creating these materials is to keep them visually appealing, concise, and engaging.
ReplyDeleteThe online world is really growing... especially in Georgia. This chapter definitely made me think of you and Twila- Like Carla, I was wondering what you would have to say about it!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think about all the new virtual campuses that are cropping up? I read a statistic recently that said that by the end of the decade, over 50% of instruction will be done in the virtual world for K-12 students.... with the majority of face to face instruction occurring in the earliest grades. That is wild!
Tami, I am glad to hear that GVS has addressed many of the issues discussed in the textbook. I agree with your points about the support team. As you mentioned, students should benefit much from such support team. As you know, even college students are advised of what courses they should take each semester. I do not exactly know how GVS works, but I wonder it needs "communication" between GVS and individual schools!
ReplyDeleteVery cool and timely post, Tami! I like how you ended it with "..time will tell how effective it is!"
ReplyDeleteIt seems that you guys are at the cutting edge of this at GVS and that you guys have a virtual school that is anything but a set of online lessons with no interaction. As the internet evolves, it is interesting to see the twists and turns and how things change. I remember when online shopping first arrived, and the predictions that all of the stores would close, and the shopping centers would become abandoned ghost towns. I think that online education has a similar story that it will follow. It is a great answer to education for some situations, and is a great compliment to the traditional approach of face-to-face learning, but will not quite replace the traditional approach either. Kind of like our cohort---the face to face is awesome, but the online has its advantages, too. Together, they work quite well!